Battle for the Afterlife
by AppleBlossom2
Summary: Grant Ward and Coulson's team arrive at the Afterlife as it is being attacked by Hydra. This story contains spoilers through the episode titled Afterlife.


Battle for the Afterlife

by Apple Blossom

Disclaimer: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D belongs to Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Stan Lee, ABC, Marvel Television, Mutant Enemy, and anyone else who wants to lay claim to it.

Gunfire erupts all around as the Quinjet settles onto the uneven ground between the mountains and the village that had previously been hidden from the world. Hydra agents rush the residents, attempting to reign them in as they fight back with whatever powers they have at their disposal. Coulson orders us in, ICERs for the villagers if we can't convince them we are on their side and semi-automatics for anyone looking to hurt them. Mike Peterson takes out the Hydra jets with ease and moves on to hand to hand combat. The villagers don't know what to make of us, friend or foe, but once Hunter and Coulson engage the enemy they seem to accept us and turn their powers against Hydra's soldiers. Kara and I take off through the red arch, heading toward the sound of violence ahead of us. Rushing through the streets I stop suddenly as I see Skye, back toward me, hands held out as Hydra agents drop to the ground from a pulse emanating from her. My heart beats a cadence within my chest at the sight of her. At the same time the men in front of her hit the pavement a soldier takes aim from behind and fires. I watch helplessly as the projectile rushes toward her, hitting her left shoulder. Whatever pulse is coming from her stops suddenly as she cries out in pain and drops to her knees, her body falling forward, where she collapses in a heap. My weapon comes up automatically, not the ICER, and I dispatch the combatant with one shot before running toward her.

"Skye." My voice is barely a whisper over the explosions and gunfire even though I am yelling her name as I turn her carefully onto her side. When she sees me betrayal fills her eyes as she cries out in pain, desperately trying to get away from me. "It's okay, Skye. I'm here with Coulson."

"Coulson?" she asks, glancing around as if she can't quite believe I'm telling the truth.

"Yes," I tell her, one hand brushing the strands of hair away from her face as her eyes start to close.

"Skye!" A voice yells her name, rushing toward us and for a moment I can tell he is sizing me up, determining in an instant if I'm a threat to her.

"She's been shot," I tell him and he drops beside me.

"Where?" he asks as he checks her pulse and touches her cheek softly.

"Shoulder," I tell him.

"Help me sit her up," he orders and when I do Skye cries out in pain, leaning her head on my shoulder as the man looks over the wound. "Skye, it's Lincoln. We need to get this out now."

His face looks overly concerned and as I glance at what I expected to be a bullet wound I see that it is some sort of metal embedded in her skin. "What is that?"

"I've only seen it once before," Lincoln tells me. "It's some sort of paralyzing device but it also emits a great deal of pain as well. If these soldiers are using it, it means they want to capture us alive. The device renders us powerless."

His face is filled with fear and I can only guess that he knows someone who was experimented on by Hydra's scientists.

"Can you carry her?" he asks me and I nod but when I try to lift her Skye sobs in anguish and I stop immediately.

"Let me get my stuff and bring it back here," Lincoln says and I nod, sending Kara with him for cover while I wait with Skye, my eyes darting around looking for danger. Skye's head lists slightly against my shoulder, her fingers gripping my shirt loosely.

"My mom," she whispers, her voice filled with agony. "Have you seen her?"

"What?" I ask as I stare down at her, remembering that Whitehall said he'd experimented on her. Killed her. The only thing I can think of is that Skye is hallucinating due to the contraption in her shoulder. Before I can ask her to clarify Lincoln and Kara are back and the man kneels beside Skye while Kara covers us, weapon out as she scans the darkness settling around us.

"Keep her upright," Lincoln says as he pulls a pair of surgical scissors from the bag and cuts Skye's shirt, exposing more of the metal device buried in Skye's skin. He sprays something around the wound that I assume is attempting to sterilize it before using a scalpel and making a small incision around the thing. Skye whimpers and Lincoln tells me to hold her still, apologizing to her as he continues to work at it.

"It's okay," I whisper to her, holding tight to her as she cries out from time to time.

"Dammit," Lincoln snaps as he stops what he is doing and digs around in his bag, looking for some other surgical tool. I really wish Simmons was here right now because I don't know how much medical experience this kid has. He seems really young, probably Skye's age, and I'm not sure that he should be doing this to her. I notice that what I thought was Skye's weeping getting louder is really just that the gunfire and shouting has stopped. There are people rushing around but no one pays much attention to us until Kara stands, her gun going up for a moment until Coulson appears. Hunter and Mike are behind him and they all stop as they see Skye in my arms. Lincoln calls to a passerby to help and a young woman kneels beside him as he says, "The device nicked an artery."

They work for a minute before Lincoln tells me to lean her forward. I do and brush her hair away from the wound as she whimpers and then she's quiet. My eyes meet his and I can only guess that there is fear in mine as Lincoln says, "She's probably passed out from the pain."

I nod then and let him get back to work and a few minutes later he is stitching up the wound and covering it with gauze, taping it securely in place before he finally says, "We can move her now."

He helps me get her up, her head still laying against my shoulder as my other arm goes under her knees. Skye is completely out now, her eyes closed, mouth slightly open, her features still masked in agony. I follow Lincoln with Coulson and the others trailing behind. He leads us to a room, opening the door and pulling the blankets back on the bed before I lay her down. She groans softly but doesn't wake. I know I should step back from her, give her some space, but I can't. Why is she only person in the universe who gets under my skin this way? She hates me. Shot me. The look on her face when she first saw me tonight haunts me. But so does the feel of her head against my shoulder. The smell of her hair stays with me even now. Her hand clenching my shirt. Kara's eyes meet mine and I know instantly what she is thinking and I'm surprised by how quickly she's come to know the real me. Finally I step away and let Coulson near. He and I are still on tenuous ground but he nods before settling on the bed beside Skye and reaching for her hand, his fingers smoothing across the expanse of skin between her forefinger and thumb.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asks Lincoln.

"I think so," he tells us just as the door opens and a beautiful Asian woman rushes in the door. There is something so familiar about her but I can't place how I could possibly know her. If I had to guess I would say she is in her mid thirties. She's beautiful even with the scars that mar her face and as I look at her I see Skye's eyes staring back at me.

"Hello," she says as she crosses the room toward Skye's bed, her eyes taking in all of us at once before landing on the sleeping form in the bed. "I'm Jiaying. Thank you for your help."

Coulson gets up, moving out of the way as Jiaying takes his place, one hand reaching for Skye's while the other touches her face softly, almost maternally. They are obviously related, I think to myself. I see so much of Skye in Jiaying's features. Or maybe it is the other way around as I suddenly remember what Whitehall said. Skye's mother didn't age. Is this woman an older sibling or is this her mother? I glance toward Coulson and he seems to realize that Jiaying is not just a concerned villager. His eyes meet mine and his eyes widen in surprise when I mouth the word _mother_ to him but he quickly nods as if he feels it too.

"We need to talk," Coulson tells her finally and Jiaying reluctantly turns away from her daughter and nods.

"Yes," she agrees as she stands. "We'll need to meet with the rest of the elders. We're not safe here anymore."

Coulson orders Kara, Mike and Hunter to help with the clean up and handling of Hydra prisoners while Lincoln is called off to assist with other injuries which leaves me alone with Skye. I stand there staring at her for a moment before finally pulling up a chair and settling close to her bedside. I'm surprised that Coulson's allowing me to be alone with her but I'm not about to question it. When she wakes I want to be there for her. Want to tell her how sorry I am about everything. Tell her how I am slowly making things right with Coulson and I want to do the same with her. And someday, when the time is right, I'm going to tell her how much I love her. How I've always loved her and that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

The end


End file.
